


Tales of Ink

by Kitsune_Moonstar



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Domestic Fluff, Drabble Collection, Fluff, M/M, Tattooed Danny "Danno" Williams, Tattooed Steve McGarrett, Tattoos, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-15
Updated: 2018-04-15
Packaged: 2019-04-23 10:17:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14330325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kitsune_Moonstar/pseuds/Kitsune_Moonstar
Summary: Steve gets a tattoo to represent Danny in his life.  Things spiral from there.  A series of interconnected drabbles.





	Tales of Ink

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or its characters.

**Ink**

Steve’s not sure where the impulse comes from.  They’ve had a lull in cases since Danny left, and Steve’s found himself with time on his hands.  Maybe it’s the fact that Danny’s going to be gone for a full month.  His mom was having a hip replacement, and Danny was heading to Jersey to give his folks a hand.  Rachel had taken Grace to England for the month to visit her relatives, so at least his partner wouldn’t be missing time with his daughter.

It didn’t take him long to come up with a design either.  It’s a simple line drawing of a pineapple with a tie the same color as Danny’s eyes wrapped around the crown of the pineapple.  Deciding where to put it is much harder.  This was one tattoo that he didn’t exactly feel like sharing with everyone or calling attention to.

In the end, the pineapple ended up on his left hip.  It’s no bigger than his fist, and Steve has to admit that he really likes the way it turned out.  It’s a good reminder of just how lucky he is.

**Inked**

Beach days with Grace are always wonderful.  Steve almost always ends up in the water with Grace while Danny lounges on the shore.  Not that he minds.  For all that Danny claims to hate Hawaii, he always seems pretty content to watch Grace and Steve have fun.  Today, however, Grace had tired of playing in the water early, and the pair of them ended up building a sandcastle. 

Gracie reached out a finger and traced one of his shoulder tattoos.

“Your tattoos don’t look like Danno’s.”

Steve blinked at her.  “Danno has tattoos?”

“Just one.”  Grace poked at his tattoo.  “It’s not this colorful though.”

Steve stole a glance over at his partner, trying to figure out where he might be hiding a tattoo.  Steve never had an inkling that Danny was hiding a tattoo somewhere, so it couldn’t be anywhere obvious like his arms or back.  He’d seen Danny shirtless more than once.  And he had the feeling that Danny wasn’t just going to show him if he asked.

“Hand me the bucket, Uncle Steve.”

Clearly, Grace had moved on to other things.  Steve stole one more glance at Danny before he turned his attention back to the castle they were constructing.  The mystery of Danny’s tattoo could wait.  For now.

**Fresh Ink**

Danny has the feeling that he might be making a fool of himself.  Still, it wasn’t like anyone would know.  His new tattoo was going right by his old one, where both would be out of sight.  And it wasn’t like his new tattoo was obvious or anything.  People would only recognize the scattering of stars as the constellation Pisces if they knew what they were looking for, and they’d also have to know that that was Steve’s sign.  And it looked quite nice wrapped around Grace’s North Star compass rose. 

Both tattoos were simple in style and done in black ink.  The compass rose had the some of the words from Amazing Grace etched around the outside, but the Pisces was just a collection of black stars.  Simple and understate, it suited Steve.  And Danny had to admit that he liked the fact that the tattoos representing two of the most important people in his life were together.  Not that he would ever tell Steve that.  In fact, it would be a blue moon before Steve found out about his tattoos in general.

**Hidden Ink**

It’s driving Steve absolutely crazy.  The knowledge that somewhere on his body Danny is hiding a tattoo of some sort.  It’s been three weeks since Grace let that fact slip, and Steve still hasn’t been able to figure where that tattoo is or what it might be of.  It had gotten to point where other people were noticing too.

“Are you ogling Danny’s ass for a reason, boss?  You seem a bit distracted.”

Steve blinked at Kono.  “Do you think he’d get a tattoo there?”

Kono blinked at him.  “What?”

“Do you think Danny would get a tattoo on his butt?  Grace says he has one, but I’ve never seen it, so it has to be somewhere like that.”

Kono just shook her head.  “I don’t really think Danny’s an ass tattoo kind of guy.  Of course, I didn’t think he was a tattoo sort of guy, so who knows.”

Steve just sighed.

“Have you thought about just asking Danny about the tattoo?” Kono asked.  “I mean, I don’t mind you ogling Danny, but if I get shot because of it, I’m not going to be very happy.”

He snorted.  “Right.  And Danny’s just going to spill the beans about his secret tattoo that I only know about because his daughter told me.”

“You’ll never know unless you try.”

**Questionable Ink**

Danny crossed his arms over his chest.  “Let me get this straight.  My daughter mentions that I have a tattoo, and you decided that the best time to try an interrogate me about it was in the middle of a firefight?  You deserved to get shot.”

Steve winced as the EMT tightened the bandage on his arm.  “Danno…”

“Oh don’t, Danno me.  You’re going to let the nice EMTs take care of you, and then you’re going to go back to HQ and do all the paperwork.”

“And the tattoo?”

“I might tell you.  Someday.”

Ink Revealed

It was turning into one of those cases.  The ones that lead to nonstop ranting from Danny.  Steve couldn’t honestly say that he entirely minded that.  It was a lot of fun getting Danny wound up.  Especially since he could sometimes pry interesting tidbits from his partner when he was in that mood.

Besides, chasing suspects over beaches wasn’t the worst thing that they had ever done.  Of course, by the time they were done, Danny had somehow lost both his pants and his boxers.  Steve didn’t mind the view at all, but he preferred not to share that with anyone else.  Which was why he’d hustled to get his partner the spare set of clothes he kept in the Camaro.

But Steve couldn’t help but notice, as he passed Danny the pants, the dark markings clustered low on his left hip.  The compass rose was obvious, but he couldn’t place the constellation surrounding it.  It was clear that there was some pattern to stars, but Steve wasn’t sure what it was.  Still, the tattoo wasn’t what he expected at all from his partner.

Well, the fact that Grace was at it’s center was.  The most predictable thing about Danny Williams was the fact that his daughter was the center of his life, and Steve loved him for it.  Still, the unstated black design was not what he’d been expecting to see on his partner’s skin.

**Ink Discovered**

This case probably couldn’t get more ridiculous in Steve’s mind.  Any case where they had to spend copious amounts of time studying astrology to understand the clues their killer was leaving behind along with pattern of victims.  It was helpful in the sense that it allowed them to start to predict their killer, but other than that, Steve was pretty sure that it was all a bunch of hooey.

Still, Steve couldn’t help the nagging feeling that he had seen at least one of the symbols before even if he can’t remember where.  Well, not the symbols exactly but the drawings of the constellations associated with the various signs.  He knows he’s seen Pisces someplace else recently; Steve just can’t remember where.

At least, not until the finally bust the guy and he is completely covered in tattoos of constellations.  Pisces was the constellation tattooed around Danny’s compass rose on his hip. Which led to the question of why?  Danny wasn’t a Pisces, and neither was Grace nor Rachel.  Off the top his head, the only Pisces that he could think of that Danny knew was himself.  But Danny wouldn’t have gotten a tattoo for Steve, would he?

**Tipsy Ink**

All in all, Danny would say it had been a good day.  They had caught the perps, Steve hadn’t done anything to crazy, and tomorrow was the start of his Grace weekend.  Plus Steve had grilled him a lovely dinner and for once, Danny hadn’t had to provide the beer.  The view was lovely, and the company wasn’t bad either.  So Danny was feeling warm and fuzzy and more than a little buzzed.  So when Steve brought up his tattoo once again, Danny was in a sharing mood.

“I get Grace.  Grace makes sense,” Steve was saying.  “What I don’t understand is why I’m there.  I don’t make sense.”

Danny arched an eyebrow at him.  “Who says it’s you?”

“I can’t figure out any other Pisces you know.  And I checked your file just to make sure.”

Danny huffed at that.  “Right.  Well then, why don’t you make sense?  After all, it’s easy enough to say that you’ve played a rather large role in my life lately.  You and Grace are my main connections to the islands after all.”

Steve blinked at him.  “But if I make sense, that would mean that you might actually want me, and that would mean you would leave because everyone who says they care about me does, and I don’t want you to go.”

Danny blinked at his best friend and set down his beer.

“Steve, I want you to listen to me very carefully.  There is next to nothing that would make me willingly leave you.  Even if we’re never anything more than friends, that will be true.  Also, you idiot, I already care about you, and I haven’t left yet despite you getting me shot at on a regular basis.”

Steve stared at him for a long moment, and the next thing that Danny knew, he was being kissed.

**Shared Ink**

It didn’t take long for Steve to get with the program.  Danny kissing him was unexpected, but it wasn’t an opportunity that Steve was about to give up.  Not when he finally had it.  And kissing Danny was everything that he had hoped for and more.  Steve will admit to feeling more than a little dazed when they finally pulled apart.

Danny sat back looking satisfied, and Steve can’t help but blurt out, “I have you too you know.  I got the tattoo years ago, but I needed to have you on my skin.”

His partner smiled, eyes twinkling.  “You’ll have to show me sometime.”

**Matching Ink**

Danny would say that it was rather fitting that they decided to get matching tattoos as well as wedding bands.  Compared to their other tattoos, these ones are small and simple, a simple line drawing of a heart on the inside of their right ankles.  There had been a long debate between the two of them over what exactly they should choose.

In the end it was Grace who had found the perfect design for them.  Simple, bold, and nothing flashy, it suited both them and their relationship in his mind.  Danny had to admit that from the outside their relationship could seem rather flashy and glamorous, but when it really came down to it, what they had was two people who would stand by another through whatever the world threw a them.

And, yes, the tiny hearts were a little sentimental, but Danny would take that.  Besides, he couldn’t help but smile whenever he saw his, and it was as much of a tangible reminder of their partnership as his wedding ring.


End file.
